Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut hit by rockets after Nasrallah pledges ‘victory’ in Syria

GlobalPost

Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut were hit by two rockets Sunday, just a day after the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah promised "victory" for Assad's forces in Syria's ongoing conflict. 

It was the first attack to apparently target the Hezbollah-controlled Shiite suburbs in the south of the Lebanese capital since the outbreak of the two-year conflict in neighboring Syria, which has sharply heightened Lebanon's own sectarian tensions.

More from GlobalPost: Hezbollah leader Nasrallah pledges ‘victory’ for Assad in Syria

At least four people were injured in the Grad missile blasts, which hit a car exhibit in Mar Mikhael district and the second floor of an apartment in the nearby Chiyah district, the Associated Press reported

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, who called the attack "sabotage," said the rockets were launched from a “remote location” from the southeast, but gave no further details.

Syria's two-year uprising has polarized Lebanon, with Sunni Muslims supporting the rebels and Shiite Hezbollah and its allies supporting Assad. 

Until his speech yesterday, Nasrallah insisted that Hezbollah had not sent guerrillas to fight alongside Assad's forces. 

The rockets hit as Hezbollah and Syrian fighters are waging a strong offensive in the rebel-held town of Qusayr, a strategic location near the Lebanese border which connects the Mediterranean to Damascus. 

In addition, at least 25 people have been killed in Tripoli over the last week, in street fighting which has coincided with the battle for Qusayr across the border.

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